Driving apparatus for analyzing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an analyzing apparatus including a first drive part ( 71 ) for rotating a turntable ( 101 ) on which an analyzing device is set, a second drive part ( 72 ) selectively engaged with the first drive part ( 71 ) to reciprocate the analyzing device, and a third drive part ( 73 ) for relatively moving the first drive part ( 71 ) and the second drive part ( 72 ) a position where the first and second drive parts are engaged with each other and a position where the first and second drive parts are not engaged with each other. Thus in the mixing and agitation of a small amount of fluid, necessary acceleration can be obtained even in a short time.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an analyzing apparatus for transferringan analyzing device, which contains a sample liquid collected from anorganism and the like, to a measuring chamber by a centrifugal force andanalyzing the sample liquid.

BACKGROUND ART

In the prior art, a liquid collected from an organism and the like isanalyzed by a known analyzing method using an analyzing device havingfluid channels formed therein. The analyzing device can control a fluidby using a rotator. By using a centrifugal force, the analyzing devicecan dilute a sample liquid, measure a solution, separate a solidcomponent, transfer and distribute a separated fluid, and mix a solutionand a reagent, thereby enabling various biochemical analyses.

Patent Document 1 describes an analyzing device 50 for transferring asolution by a centrifugal force. As shown in FIG. 49, the analyzingdevice 50 is configured such that a sample liquid as a specimen isinjected into a measuring chamber 52 from an inlet 51 by an insertinginstrument such as a pipette, the sample liquid is retained by thecapillary force of the measuring chamber 52, and then the sample liquidis transferred to a separating chamber 53 by a rotation of the analyzingdevice. Such an analyzing device using a centrifugal force as a powersource for transferring a liquid is preferably shaped like a disk, sothat microchannels for controlling the transfer of liquid can beradially arranged without causing any excessive area.

The sample liquid and a diluent are mixed and agitated by acceleratingor decelerating a turntable, on which the analyzing device 50 is set, inthe same rotation direction, or rotating the turntable in forward andreverse directions.

Further, in order to analyze a component contained in a sample liquidsuch as blood and urine, operations such as mixing with a reagent andcentrifugal separation are performed in the process. Generally, theseoperations are performed using an agitator and a centrifugal separator.In an analysis conducted through multiple processes, these operationsperformed in the respective devices cause low efficiency. To addressthis problem, a single device for performing centrifugal separation andagitation is proposed in Patent Document 2 and so on.

Unlike in Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 does not describe ananalyzing device but describes a technique of a centrifugal separator ofFIG. 50 in which an eccentric cam 803 rotationally driven by a motor 802is inserted into a hole 801 bored on a substrate 800, so that thesubstrate 800 is vibrated. Centrifugal separation and agitation areswitched by an electromagnetic plunger.

Patent Document 1: National Publication of International PatentApplication No. 7-500910

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 2866404

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In the configuration of Patent Document 1, however, a sufficientacceleration for performing mixing and agitation in a short time cannotbe obtained because of the inertial force of the analyzing device, theresponse of the drive unit, and so on, so that it takes a long time toperform mixing and agitation under present circumstances.

This disadvantage is apparent particularly in the mixing of a smallamount of fluid. Mixing and agitation may be insufficiently performedeven in a sufficient period of time.

The present invention has been devised to solve the problem of the priorart. An object of the present invention is to provide an analyzingapparatus that can obtain a necessary acceleration in the mixing andagitation of a small amount of fluid even in a shorter time than in theprior art.

In the configuration of Patent Document 2, centrifugal separation andagitation are performed by different motors. However, it is necessary tokeep constant the rotations of the motors to accurately perform theoperations. The addition of an agitating function requires anothersensor for detecting a frequency, so that the configuration of theapparatus is increased in size and the control is complicated.

The present invention has been devised to solve the problem of the priorart. An object of the present invention is to provide a centrifugalseparator using a sensor for controlling centrifugal separation andagitation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an analyzingapparatus including a rotary drive section that can stably performswinging even in the event of deformation such as wearing of acomponent.

Means for Solving the Problems

An analyzing apparatus of the present invention in which an analyzingdevice is set, the analyzing device having a microchannel structure fortransferring a sample liquid to a measuring chamber by a centrifugalforce, the analyzing apparatus including: a first drive part forrotating the set analyzing device; a second drive part selectivelyengaged with the first drive part to reciprocate the analyzing device,and a third drive part for relatively moving the first drive part andthe second drive part to a position where the first and second driveparts are engaged with each other and a position where the first andsecond drive parts are not engaged with each other.

The first drive part is made up of a turntable on which the analyzingdevice is set, and a first motor for rotationally driving the turntable;and the second drive part is made up of a lever supported so as toreciprocate or swing in the tangential direction of the turntable, and asecond motor for driving the lever so as to reciprocate or swing thelever.

An analyzing apparatus of the present invention in which an analyzingdevice is set, the analyzing device having a microchannel structure fortransferring a sample liquid to a measuring chamber by a centrifugalforce, the analyzing apparatus including: a first drive part having aturntable on which the analyzing device is set, and a first motor forrotationally driving the turntable; a second drive part having a leverthat is supported so as to swing in the tangential direction of theturntable and is selectively engaged with the first drive part, and asecond motor for driving the lever in a swinging manner to reciprocatethe analyzing device; a third drive part for relatively moving the firstdrive part and the second drive part to a position where the first andsecond drive parts are engaged with each other and a position where thefirst and second drive parts are not engaged with each other; and acontrol section for controlling the timing of energization to the secondmotor so as to bring the first drive part and the second drive partclose to each other while swinging the lever, when the third drive partrelatively moves the first drive part and the second drive part to theposition where the first and second drive parts are engaged with eachother.

The analyzing apparatus further includes a first gear formed on theouter periphery of the turntable of the first drive part, and a secondgear formed on the end of the lever of the second drive part so as tomesh with the first gear.

Further, the first motor is an outer rotor motor, and the first motorincludes: a first gear formed on the outer periphery of an outer rotor,and a second gear formed on the end of the lever of the second drivepart so as to mesh with the first gear.

Moreover, the control section is set at “f1<f2” where f1 is a firstfrequency that is the swinging frequency of the lever when the firstdrive part and the second drive part are relatively moved to theposition where the first and second drive parts are engaged with eachother, and f2 is a second frequency that is the swinging frequency ofthe lever after the first drive part and the second drive part areengaged with each other.

Further, in the case where the third drive part relatively moves thefirst and second drive parts to the position where the first and seconddrive parts are not engaged with each other, the control sectioncontrols a state of energization to the first motor of the first drivepart so as to regulate a rotation when the second motor is energized toseparate the first drive part and the second drive part.

An analyzing apparatus of the present invention in which an analyzingdevice is set, the analyzing device having a microchannel structure fortransferring a sample liquid to a measuring chamber by a centrifugalforce, the analyzing apparatus including: a turntable for holding theanalyzing device in which the sample liquid has been injected; a firstdrive part that rotationally drives the turntable and uses at least twomagnetic sensors to detect a rotating magnetic field; a second drivepart engaged with the turntable to generate reciprocating vibrations onthe turntable; and a vibration detecting section for selecting an outputsignal having the largest amplitude from the output signals of themagnetic sensors and calculating a vibration frequency from the selectedoutput signal while keeping the selection state until the completion ofan operation of vibration agitation.

Moreover, the first drive part has a rotary motor that is a three-phasebrushless motor.

The vibration detecting section includes: filters for extracting two ofthe output signals of the magnetic sensors and removing direct-currentsignals; a first comparing section for comparing the amplitudes of theoutput signals of the filters to decide which of the amplitudes islarger, and storing the decision result; a multiplexer for selecting thesignal having the largest amplitude from the output signals of thefilters based on the decision result stored in the first comparingsection; a second comparing section for digitally converting the outputsignal selected by the multiplexer; and a microcomputer for calculatinga vibration frequency from the output signal of the second comparingsection.

The vibration detecting section includes: filters for removingdirect-current signals from the output signals of the at least twomagnetic sensors; a multiplexer for selecting one of the output signalsof the filters; an analog-to-digital converter for digitally convertingthe output signal of the multiplexer; and a microcomputer forcalculating a vibration frequency from the output signal of theanalog-to-digital converter.

An analyzing apparatus of the present invention including a rotationaldrive section having a first drive part for rotating a set analyzingdevice, a second drive part selectively engaged with the first drivepart to reciprocate the analyzing device, and a third drive part forrelatively moving the first drive part and the second drive part to aposition where the first and second drive parts are engaged with eachother and a position where the first and second drive parts are notengaged with each other, the analyzing apparatus further including:memory for storing the swinging frequency of the second drive partaccording to a set value; and a controller for running a swingingroutine in which a set value necessary for swinging the analyzing deviceis read at a desired frequency and is supplied to the second drive part,the controller further running a load fluctuation learning routine inwhich a set value for learning is supplied to the second drive part tomeasure the swinging frequency and the contents of the memory areupdated so as to reduce fluctuations in swinging frequency according tothe measured value.

Further, the controller runs an accumulated swinging value decidingroutine in which count values corresponding to the contents of aswinging operation are accumulated in the swinging routine, the loadfluctuation learning routine is instructed to run when the controllerdetects that the accumulated value has exceeded a threshold value, andthen the accumulated value is reset.

Moreover, the controller runs an accumulated swinging value decidingroutine in which count values corresponding to the contents of aswinging operation and count values corresponding to secular changes areaccumulated in the swinging routine, the load fluctuation learningroutine is instructed to run when the controller detects that theaccumulated value has exceeded a threshold value, and then theaccumulated value is reset.

Further, the controller lies a single set value for learning to thesecond drive part and measures the swinging frequency in the loadfluctuation learning routine, and the controller updates the contents ofthe memory so as to reduce fluctuations in swinging frequency accordingto the measured value.

Moreover, the controller supplies multiple set values for learning tothe second drive part and measures the swinging frequencies in the loadfluctuation learning routine, and the controller updates the contents ofthe memory so as to reduce fluctuations in swinging frequency by linearapproximation between the two points of the measured values.

Advantage of the Invention

With this configuration, an analyzing device set on a first drive partis reciprocated by engaging a second drive part with the first drivepart. Thus it is possible to obtain necessary acceleration even in ashort time unlike in the prior art where a sample liquid and a diluentare mixed and agitated by accelerating or decelerating the motor of afirst drive part in the same rotation direction, or rotating the motorin forward and reverse directions.

The control section controls the timing of energization to the secondmotor so as to bring the first drive part and the second drive partclose to each other while swinging the lever. Thus it is possible toreduce an impact and achieve stable engagement when the first drive partand the second drive part are engaged with each other.

Further, it is possible to calculate a vibration frequency in agitationbased on the detected output of a magnetic sensor used for a rotarymotor for centrifugal separation. Thus it is not necessary to provide asensor for controlling agitation in addition to the rotary motor forcentrifugal separation.

Moreover, even in the event of mechanical fluctuations including loadfluctuations in at least one of the first drive part and the seconddrive part, the controller periodically and automatically corrects a setvalue for instructing the second drive part. Thus it is possible toreduce fluctuations in the swinging frequency of the analyzing deviceand keep the analysis accuracy over an extended period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1( a) and 1(b) are plan views showing the disengagement of a firstdrive part and a second drive part of a rotational drive section of ananalyzing apparatus and a plan view showing the engagement of the firstdrive part and the second drive part according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a rotational drive section of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the rotational drive section of the firstembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing that a lever of the second drive part hasbeen removed according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing that the door of the analyzingapparatus is opened according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the main part of an analyzing deviceset in the analyzing apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the analyzing apparatus according tothe first embodiment;

FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) are outside perspective views showing the analyzingdevice with an opened and closed protective cap according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the analyzing device ofthe first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view taken from the back of the analyzingdevice with the protective cap closed;

FIGS. 11( a) and 11(b) are plan views before and after the driving of arotational drive section according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a rotational drive section of thesecond embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a connection diagram showing a control section and first tothird motors according to the second embodiment;

FIGS. 14( a)-(c) are waveform diagrams showing the output signals of thecontrol section according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a detailed connection diagram of the control section and thefirst motor according to the second embodiment;

FIGS. 16( i)-(vi) are explanatory drawings showing the rotationaldriving states of the first motor according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a centrifugal separator accordingto a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a top view of the centrifugal separator according to thefourth embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a principle diagram showing a quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 20 is an angle characteristic diagram showing voltages outputtedfrom the Hall elements of the quadrupole magnet three-phase brushlessmotor according to the fourth embodiment;

FIGS. 21( i)-(vi) show the relationship between the six polaritypatterns of three-phase driving coils of the quadrupole magnetthree-phase brushless motor and the position of a magnet rotor accordingto the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 22 shows the relationship between the states of energization toHall elements 313, 314, and 315 and the driving coils of U phase, Vphase, and W phase;

FIG. 23 is a structural diagram showing a vibration detecting section ofthe centrifugal separator according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a characteristic diagram showing the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements when the three-phase brushless motor isvibrated in the range of an angle α according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a characteristic diagram showing peak hold voltages when thethree-phase brushless motor is vibrated in the range of the angle αaccording to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a characteristic diagram showing the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements when the three-phase brushless motor isvibrated in the range of an angle β according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a characteristic diagram showing peak hold voltages when thethree-phase brushless motor is vibrated in the range of the angle βaccording to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 28 is a characteristic diagram showing the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements 313 and 315 in reciprocating vibrations withthe vibration center disposed at the angle of one of points P1 to P4shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 29 is a characteristic diagram showing peak hold voltages accordingto the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 30 is an input/output characteristic diagram of a comparatorcircuit 320 according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 31 is an input/output characteristic diagram when a hysteresischaracteristic is provided for the comparator circuit 320 according tothe fourth embodiment;

FIG. 32 is an enlarged view of a vertical axis (voltage range) of FIG.29 according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram showing a vibration detecting section 401according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a structural diagram showing a vibration detecting section ofa centrifugal separator according to a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 35 is a process drawing showing the detection of a vibrationfrequency of a microcomputer according to the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 36 is an enlarged view showing a second gear to explain a problemaccording to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 37 is a structural diagram showing a rotational drive sectionaccording to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 38 shows the relationship between the total number of swings of therotational drive section and a change of a mechanical load;

FIG. 39 shows the relationship between a set value for a swinging motordrive part of the rotational drive section and a swinging frequency;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing a swinging routine according to theseventh embodiment;

FIG. 41 is an explanatory drawing showing an additional value tableaccording to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 42 is a flowchart showing an accumulated swinging value decidingroutine according to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a load fluctuation learning routineaccording to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 44 is an explanatory drawing showing updating in the loadfluctuation learning routine according to the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 45 shows the relationship between a set value and a swingingfrequency with an analyzing device set on a turntable and therelationship between a set value and a swinging frequency with theanalyzing device not set on the turntable;

FIG. 46 shows the load fluctuation learning routine when swingingfrequencies are measured and learned at multiple points;

FIG. 47 is an explanatory drawing of FIG. 46,

FIG. 48 is an explanatory drawing showing a specific calculation exampleof FIG. 46;

FIG. 49 is a partially cut perspective view showing an analyzing deviceof Patent Document 1; and

FIG. 50 is a partially cut perspective view showing Patent Document 2.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment

FIGS. 1 to 10 show an analyzing apparatus according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show an analyzing device.

FIGS. 8 (a) and 8(b) show an analyzing device 1 with an opened andclosed protective cap 2. FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the analyzingdevice 1 with the underside of FIG. 8( a) placed face up. FIG. 10 is anassembly drawing of FIG. 8( b).

The analyzing device shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is made up of fourcomponents of a base substrate 3 having a microchannel structure formedon one surface, the microchannel structure having a minutely unevensurface, a cover substrate 4 for covering the surface of the basesubstrate 3, a diluent container 5 for retaining a diluent, and theprotective cap 2 for preventing splashes of a sample liquid.

The base substrate 3 and the cover substrate 4 are joined to each otherwith the diluent container 5 and so on set in the base substrate 3 andthe cover substrate 4, and the protective cap 2 is attached to thejoined base substrate 3 and cover substrate 4.

The cover substrate 4 covers the openings of several recessed portionsformed on the top surface of the base substrate 3, thereby forming aplurality of storage areas, the passages of the microchannel structurefor connecting the storage areas, and so on. Reference numeral 11denotes a diluent container storage part, reference numeral 23 denotes aseparating cavity, reference numerals 25 a, 25 b, 25 c, and 25 d denoteair holes, reference numeral 28 denotes an overflow passage, referencenumeral 29 denotes an overflow cavity, reference numeral 31 denotes areference measuring chamber, reference numeral 33 denotes a capillarycavity, reference numeral 34 denotes a connecting passage, referencenumeral 36 denotes an overflow cavity, reference numeral 37 denotes acapillary passage, reference numeral 38 denotes a measuring passage,reference numeral 40 denotes a measuring chamber, and reference numeral41 denotes a connecting passage.

Reagents required for various analyses are stored beforehand innecessary ones of the storage areas. One side of the protective cap 2 ispivotally supported such that the protective cap 2 can be opened andclosed in engagement with shafts 6 a and 6 b formed on the basesubstrate 3 and the cover substrate 4. When a sample liquid to beinspected is blood, the passages of the microchannel structure in whicha capillary force is applied have clearances of 50 μl to 300 μm.

The outline of an analyzing process using the analyzing device 1 is thata sample liquid is dropped into the analyzing device 1 in which thediluent has been set, at least a part of the sample liquid is dilutedwith the diluent, and then a measurement is conducted.

The analyzing device 1 is set on a turntable 101 of an analyzingapparatus 100 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

On the top surface of the turntable 101, a groove 102 is formed a statein which the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable 101, a rotarysupport part 15 formed on the cover substrate 4 of the analyzing device1 and a rotary support part 16 formed on the protective cap 2 areengaged with the groove 102, so that the analyzing device 1 is stored.

After the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable 101, a door 103 ofthe analyzing apparatus is closed before a rotation of the turntable101, so that the set analyzing device is pressed to the side of theturntable 101 by a movable piece 104 provided on the side of the door103, with a biasing force of a spring 105 at a position on the rotationaxis of the turntable 101. Thus the analyzing device 1 rotates togetherwith the turntable 101 that is rotationally driven by a rotational drivesection 106. Reference numeral 107 denotes the axis of rotation of theturntable 101.

FIG. 7 shows the overall configuration of the analyzing apparatus 100.

The analyzing apparatus 100 is made up of the rotational drive section106 for rotating the turntable 101, an optical measurement section 108for optically measuring a solution in the analyzing device 1, a controlsection 109 for controlling the rotation speed and direction of theturntable 101, the measurement timing of the optical measurementsection, and so on, an arithmetic section 110 for calculating ameasurement result by processing a signal obtained by the opticalmeasurement section 108, and a display section 111 for displaying theresult obtained by the arithmetic section 110.

The rotational drive section 106 can rotate the analyzing device 1through the turntable 101 about a rotation axis 107 in any direction ata predetermined rotation speed and can further vibrate the analyzingdevice 1 so as to laterally reciprocate the analyzing device 1 at apredetermined stop position with respect to the rotation axis 107 with apredetermined amplitude range and a predetermined period.

The optical measurement section 108 includes a light source 112 (may bea light emitting diode) for emitting light of a specific wavelength tothe measuring part of the analyzing device 1, and a photodetector 113for detecting an amount of light having passed through the analyzingdevice 1 out of the light emitted from the light source 112.

The analyzing device 1 is rotationally driven by the turntable 101, andthe sample liquid drawn into the analyzing device 1 from an inlet 13 istransferred in the analyzing device 1 by using a centrifugal forcegenerated by rotating the analyzing device 1 about the rotation axis 107located inside the inlet 13 and the capillary force of the capillarypassage provided in the analyzing device 1.

FIGS. 1 to 4 specifically show the rotational drive section 106 of theanalyzing apparatus 100.

A first drive part 71 for rotating the set analyzing device 1 is made upof a first motor 71 a of outer rotor type and the turntable 101 that isattached to the output shaft of the first motor 71 a and has theanalyzing device 1 set thereon. On the outer periphery of the turntable101, a first gear 74 is formed.

In addition to the first drive part 71, the rotational drive section 106includes a second drive part 72 that is selectively engaged with thefirst drive part 71 to laterally reciprocate the turntable 101 at apredetermined stop position with respect to the rotation axis 107 with apredetermined amplitude range and a predetermined period andreciprocates the analyzing device 1, and a third drive part 73 forrelatively moving the first and second drive parts 71 and 72 to aposition where the first and second drive parts 71 and 72 are engagedwith each other (FIG. 1( b)) and a position where the drive parts arenot engaged with each other (FIG. 1( a)). In the present embodiment, thesecond drive part 72 moves relative to the first drive part 71.

The second drive part 72 and the third drive part 73 are configured asshown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

On a chassis 75 where the first motor 71 a is attached, a second motor72 a, a third motor 73 a, and so on are attached. On a support table 77attached to the chassis 75 so as to slide along an arrow 76 (see FIGS.1( a) and 2), a support shaft 78 is mounted.

Further, a lever 79 is pivoted on the support shaft 78. On one end ofthe lever 79 on the side of the turntable 101, a second gear 80 isformed so as to mesh with the first gear 74 of the turntable 101. On theother end of the lever 79, a recessed portion 81 is formed. On therecessed portion 81, an eccentric cam 83 is engaged that is attached toan output shaft 82 of the second motor 72 a. FIG. 4 is a plan viewshowing that the lever 79 has been removed from the support shaft 78.

With this configuration, when the second motor 72 a is energized, thelever 79 swings between a solid line position and a virtual lineposition via the eccentric cam 83.

The lever 79 is urged by a helical spring (not shown) to reduce thebacklash of the lever 79 during swinging.

The third drive part 73 is made up of the third motor 73 a attached tothe chassis 75, a worm 85 attached to an output shaft 84 of the thirdmotor 73 a, a worm wheel 86 that is rotationally attached to the chassis75 and meshes with the worm 85, and a rack 87 that is formed on thesupport table 77 and meshes with the worm wheel 86. Between the supporttable 77 and the chassis 75, an extension spring 88 is interposed toreduce backlash between the worm wheel 86 and the rack 87.

With this configuration, the third motor 73 a is energized to rotate theworm wheel 86 along an arrow 89 (see FIG. 1( a)) until a detectionswitch 91 detects the support table 77 as shown in FIG. 1( b), so thatthe support table 77 on which the rack 87 meshes with the worm wheel 86slides close to the turntable 101 and the second gear 80 of the lever 79meshes with the first gear 74 of the turntable 101 as shown in FIG. 1(b). In this state, the second motor 72 a kept energized enables thelever 79 to swingingly drive the turntable 101 in the tangentialdirection of the turntable 101. Thus by increasing the number ofrevolutions of the second motor 72 a, acceleration high enough toagitate a small amount of fluid in the analyzing device 1 can beobtained even in a short time.

In the present embodiment, the lever 79 of the second drive part 72 isbrought close to the turntable 101. In the agitation and swinging of theanalyzing device 1, the turntable 101 may be brought close to the lever79 of the second drive part 72 to allow the first and second gears 74and 80 to mesh with each other. Alternatively, in the agitation andswinging of the analyzing device 1, the turntable 101 of the first drivepart 71 and the lever 79 of the second drive part 72 may be broughtclose to each other to allow the first and second gears 74 and 80 tomesh with each other. Thus the analyzing device 1 can be agitated andswung by relatively moving the first drive part 71 and the second drivepart 72 by the third drive part 73 to a position where the lever 79 andthe turntable 101 are engaged with each other and a position where thelever 79 and the turntable 101 are not engaged with each other.

In the foregoing embodiments, the analyzing device 1 is agitated andswung by engagement of the first gear 74 of the turntable 101 and thesecond gear 80 of the lever 79. Instead of the second gear 80 on thelever 79, a friction member provided on one end of the lever 79 may bebrought into contact with the first gear 74 of the turntable 101 toengage the turntable 101 and the lever 79.

In the foregoing embodiments, the second drive part 72 is driven inengagement with the first gear 74 provided on the turntable 101. Thefirst gear 74 may be formed on the outer periphery of an outer rotor 90of the first motor 71 a and the second gear 80 of the second drive part72 may mesh with the first gear 74. Alternatively, the second drive part72 to be swingingly driven may come into contact with the outerperiphery of the outer rotor 90 of the first motor 71 a to laterallyreciprocate the analyzing device 1 with respect to the rotation axis 107with the predetermined amplitude range and the predetermined period.

Second Embodiment

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the rotational drive section 106 of the first embodiment, theanalyzing device is reciprocated by swingingly driving the second drivepart in the tangential direction of the turntable. The second embodimentof FIGS. 11 and 12 is different in that a second drive part isreciprocated in the tangential direction of a turntable. Anotherdifferent point is that the driving source of a third drive part is asolenoid.

Regarding the different points from the first embodiment, the operationswill be specifically described below.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a second motor 72 a, a solenoid 204,support shafts 203 a and 203 b, a support shaft 209, and the like areattached to a chassis 75 where a first motor 71 a has been attached.

On the support shafts 203 a and 203 b, a lever 201 is slidably pivotedby a spacer 210 and fasteners 212. On the side of the turntable 101 a,the lever 201 has a side bent in parallel with the rotor of the firstmotor 71 a. Further, a friction member 202 that can be in frictioncontact with the rotor of the first motor 71 a is mounted on the end ofa bent side 201 b. The friction member 202 is made of a material such ascork and butyl rubber. Further, a recessed portion 211 is formed on thelever 201 and an eccentric cam 83 attached to an output shaft 82 of thesecond motor 72 a is engaged with the recessed portion 211.

With this configuration, when the second motor 72 a is energized, thelever 201 reciprocates via the eccentric cam 83 as indicated by an arrow213 of FIG. 11.

A third drive part 73 is made up of a solenoid 204 attached to thechassis 75, a lever 206 engaged with the solenoid 204, and a lever 205that has an intermediate portion pivoted on the support shaft 209implanted on the chassis 75 and has one end engaged with a shaft 206 bimplanted on the lever 206. Further, an other end 205 b of the lever 205is inserted into a hole 214 of the lever 201 and is engaged with the endof the bent side 201 b.

The lever 205 urges the end of the bent side 201 b of the lever 201along an arrow 215 of FIG. 11( a) by an extension spring 207. The bentside 201 b acts as a plate spring.

With this configuration, the energized solenoid 204 moves the lever 206and simultaneously rotates the lever 205 along an arrow 216 of FIG. 11(b) with the support shaft 209 serving as a rotation axis. A plate springportion recovers on the end of the bent side 201 b of the lever 201, andthe friction member 202 comes into contact with the rotor of the firstmotor 71 a.

In this state, the second motor 72 a kept energized enables the lever 79to swingingly drive a turntable 101 in the tangential direction of theturntable 101. Thus by increasing the number of revolutions of thesecond motor 72 a, acceleration high enough to agitate a small amount offluid in the analyzing device 1 can be obtained even in a short time.

In the present embodiment, the lever 201 of the second drive part 72 isbrought close to the first motor 71 a. In the agitation and swinging ofan analyzing device 1, the first motor 71 a may be brought close to thelever 201 of the second drive part 72. Alternatively, in the agitationand swinging of the analyzing device 1, the first drive part 71 and thelever 201 of the second drive part 72 may be brought close to eachother. The analyzing device 1 can be agitated and swung by relativelymoving the first drive part 71 and the second drive part 72 by the thirddrive part 73 to a position where the lever 201 and the first motor 71 aare engaged with each other and a position where the lever 201 and thefirst motor 71 a are not engaged with each other.

Although the friction member 202 is engaged with the first motor 71 a,the friction member 202 of the lever 201 may be replaced with a gearmember as in the first embodiment and the gear member may be engagedwith the turntable 101 or a first gear 74 provided on the first motor 71a.

Third Embodiment

The control section 109 of the first, second, and third motors 71 a, 72a, and 73 a of the first embodiment is configured as will be describedbelow. Thus even when the tops of the teeth of a second gear 80 and thetops of the teeth of a first gear 74 collide each other, the tops of theteeth of the second gear 80 can be reliably engaged with the bottoms ofthe teeth of the first gear 74, achieving stable mixing and agitationfor an analyzing device 1.

In the case where signals are outputted from the control section 109 tothe first motor 71 a the second motor 72 a, and the third motor 73 aduring mixing and agitation as indicated by (a), (b), and (c) in FIG.13, the control section 109 is configured as shown in FIG. 14.

To be specific, when the control section 109 detects an instruction ofagitation/mixing during the stop period of the first motor 71 a, thecontrol section 109 starts energizing the second motor 72 a beforeenergizing the third motor 73 a to make a forward rotation. Thus a lever79 is swung between a solid line position and a virtual line position byan eccentric cam 83.

After the start of energization to the second motor 72 a, the controlsection 109 energizes the third motor 73 a to make a forward rotation.Thus a support table 77 comes close to a turntable 101. The energizationto the third motor 73 a is completed when a detection switch 91 detectsthe support table 77 as shown in FIG. 1( b).

When the support table 77 comes close to the turntable 101 thus, thesecond gear 80 on the end of the lever 79 comes close to the first gear74 of the turntable 101 while swinging in the tangential direction ofthe turntable 101. Thus even when the tops of the teeth of the secondgear 80 and the tops of the teeth of the first gear 74 collide with eachother, the swinging of the second gear 80 reliably engage the tops ofthe teeth of the second gear 80 with the bottoms of the teeth of thefirst gear 74, achieving stable mixing and agitation for the analyzingdevice 1.

The number of revolutions of the second motor 72 a is set lower when thefirst gear 74 and the second gear 80 are moved to an engagement positionthan after the first gear 74 and the second gear 80 are engaged witheach other, and the relationship of “f1<f2” is set where f1 is a firstfrequency that is the swinging frequency of the lever 79 when the firstgear 74 and the second gear 80 are moved to the engagement position, andf2 is a second frequency that is the swinging frequency of the lever 79after the first gear 74 and the second gear 80 are engaged with eachother.

The second gear 80 is separated from the first gear 74 as shown in FIG.1( a) from the state of FIG. 1( b). This operation is performed in astate in which the control section 109 regulates the rotations of therotor of the first motor 71 a as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16.

FIG. 15 schematically shows connection when the first motor 71 a is athree-phase brushless motor of outer rotor type. The first motor 71 aincludes a rotor 124 magnetized with two poles of a north pole and asouth pole.

The first motor 71 a further includes a stator 125 on which drivingcoils U, V, and W5 are wound. The driving coils U, and W make Yconnections and are wound respectively on the three protrusions of thestator. The three protrusions are spaced at intervals of 120°.

Further, Hall elements A, B, and C are arranged so as to be displacedfrom the respective driving coils U, V, and W by 60°. The Hall elementsdetect the polarity (a north pole or a south pole) of the magnet fieldof the opposed rotor 124 and generate a signal at a level correspondingto the detected polarity. To be specific, an “H” level signal isgenerated at the detection of a north pole, and an “L” level signal isgenerated at the detection of a south pole. A controller 120 is made upof a rotor position detector 121 and a power driver 122.

When receiving a normal rotation command from a microcomputer 123, therotor position detector 121 generates a driving signal patterncorresponding to one of six polarity patterns of the driving coils U, V,and W, in response to the output patterns of the Hall elements A, B, andC of the first motor 71 a.

The driving signal pattern generated by the rotor position detector 121is advanced to rotate the rotor 124, and an advanced rotating magneticfield is generated on the driving coils U, V, and W. Hence, the rotor124 of the first motor 71 a is rotated by an advanced rotating magneticfield during a normal operation.

The power driver 122 passes, through the driving coils U, V, and W, theexciting current of an energization pattern corresponding to the drivingsignal pattern generated by the rotor position detector 121. To bespecific, the power driver 122 switches on/off the switching elementaccording to the driving signal pattern generated by the rotor positiondetector 121, and switches the excitation phases of the stator of thefirst motor 71 a. In other words, the power driver 122 applies apositive potential and a negative potential to the respective two-phasedriving coils determined according to the driving signal patterngenerated by the rotor position detector 121, and passes excitingcurrent through the two-phase driving coils.

FIGS. 16( i) to 16(vi) show the relationship between the six polaritypatterns of the driving coils U, V, and W and the position of the rotor124. The driving coils U, V, and W are wound so as to be magnetized to anorth pole at the application of a positive potential and magnetized toa south pole at the application of a negative potential. In this case,when a positive polarity phase fed with a positive potential, a negativepolarity phase fed with a negative potential, and a phase not fed withexciting current are determined, the position of the rotor 124 is set ata location in one rotation of the rotor 124. In other words, the phasesmagnetized by the exciting current and the north pole and the south poleof the permanent magnet of the rotor 124 are attracted to each other inbalance, so that the position of the rotor 124 is set. Further, thecurrent position of the rotor 124 can be detected from the outputpatterns of the Hall elements A, B, and C.

During energization to the second motor 72 a shown in FIG. 14, excitingcurrent is not passed through any one of the driving coils U, V, and Wof the first motor 71 a. Mixing and agitation are laterally performed onthe rotor 124 and the turntable 101 by swinging the lever 79.

When the control section 109 reversely rotates the third motor 73 a toseparate the second gear 80 from the first gear 74, the microcomputer123 detects the current position of the rotor 124 from the outputpatterns of the Hall elements A, B, and C, and the exciting current ispassed through the two proper phases of the driving coils U, V, and W,so that the turntable 101 and the analyzing device 1 are locked in theclosest one of the states of FIGS. 16( i) to 16(vi). Thus it is possibleto avoid a state in which a liquid such as a sample liquid in theanalyzing device 1 moves from a predetermined position when the secondgear 80 is separated from the first gear 74.

Alternatively, before the control section 109 rotates the third motor 73a in a forward direction to engage the second gear 80 with the firstgear 74, the microcomputer 123 stores the current position of the rotor124 by storing the output patterns of the Hall elements A, B, and C.When the control section 109 reversely rotates the third motor 73 a toseparate the second gear 80 from the first gear 74, the exciting currentis passed through the two proper phases of the driving coils U, V, and Wso as to generate patterns similar to the stored output patterns of theHall elements A, B, and C, so that the position of the analyzing device1 does not change before and after mixing and agitation. Thus it ispossible to avoid a state in which a liquid such as a sample liquid inthe analyzing device 1 moves from the predetermined position.

In the present embodiment, the lever 79 of the second drive part 72 isbrought close to the turntable 101. In the agitation and swinging of theanalyzing device 1, the turntable 101 may be brought close to the lever79 of the second drive part 72 to cause the first and second gears 74and 80 to mesh each other. Alternatively, in the agitation and swingingof the analyzing device 1, the turntable 101 of the first drive part 71and the lever 79 of the second drive part 72 may be brought close toeach other to cause the first and second gears 74 and 80 to mesh witheach other. The analyzing device 1 can be agitated and swung byrelatively moving the first drive Part 71 and the second drive part 72by the third drive part 73 to a position where the lever 79 and theturntable 101 are engaged with each other and a position where the lever79 and the turntable 101 are not engaged with each other.

In the foregoing embodiments, the second drive part 72 is driven inengagement with the first gear 74 provided on the turntable 101. Thefirst gear 74 may be formed on the outer periphery of an outer rotor 90of the first motor 71 a, and the second gear 80 of the second drive part72 may mesh with the first gear 74. Alternatively, the swingingly drivensecond drive part 72 may come into contact with the outer periphery ofthe outer rotor 90 of the first motor 71 a to laterally reciprocate theanalyzing device 1 with respect to a rotation axis 107 with apredetermined amplitude range and a predetermined period.

Fourth Embodiment

FIGS. 17 and 18 show a centrifugal separator installed in a bloodanalyzing apparatus according to the present invention. A door 103 ofthe blood analyzing apparatus is opened as in FIG. 5. An analyzingdevice 1 is set on a turntable 101 as in FIG. 6.

The analyzing device 1 has a passage for injecting a sample liquid suchas blood and urine to perform centrifugal separation and agitation. Onthe top surface of the turntable 101, a groove 102 is formed. In a statein which the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable 101, a rotarysupport part 115 formed on a cover substrate 4 of the analyzing device 1and a rotary support part 116 formed on a protective cap 2 are engagedwith the groove 102, so that the analyzing device 1 is stored.

After the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable 101, the door 103of the analyzing apparatus is closed before a rotation of the turntable101, so that the set analyzing device 1 is pressed to the side of theturntable 101 by a movable piece 104 provided on the side of the door103, by a biasing force of a spring 105 at a position on the rotationaxis of the turntable 101. Thus the analyzing device 1 rotates togetherwith the turntable 101 that is rotationally driven by a rotational drivesection 106. Reference numeral 107 denotes the axis of rotation of theturntable 101.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the rotational drive section 106 is made upof a first drive part 71 for rotationally driving the turntable 101about the rotation axis 107, a second drive part 72 that comes intocontact with the turntable 101 and reciprocates in the tangentialdirection of the turntable 101 with respect to a vibration center R2orthogonal to the rotation axis 107, and a third drive part 73 thatbrings the turntable 101 and the second drive part 72 into contact witheach other only in agitation and separates the turntable 101 and thesecond drive part 72 during centrifugal separation. The third drive part73 is made up of a power source such as a direct-current motor and anelectromagnetic plunger. In order to efficiently transmit vibrationswhen the turntable 101 and the second drive part 72 are in contact witheach other, the contact surfaces of the turntable 101 and the seconddrive part 72 may be made of a material having a high coefficient offriction or may have gear structures meshing with each other.

In a specific example of FIGS. 1 to 4, the contact surfaces of thesecond drive part 72 and the turntable 101 have gear structures meshingwith each other and the third drive part 73 is made up of adirect-current motor.

The first drive part 71 for rotating the set analyzing device 1 is madeup a first motor 71 a and the turntable 101 that is mounted on theoutput shaft of the first motor 71 a and has the analyzing device 1 setthereon. On the outer periphery of the turntable 101, a first gear 74 isformed. The first motor 71 a is made up of a brushless motor of outerrotor type.

In addition to the first drive part 71, the rotational drive section 106includes the second drive part 72 that is selectively engaged with thefirst drive part 71 and reciprocates the analyzing device 1 to laterallyreciprocate the turntable 101 at a predetermined stop position withrespect to the rotation axis 107 with a predetermined amplitude rangeand a predetermined period, and a third drive part 73 for relativelymoving the first and second drive parts 71 and 72 to a position wherethe first and second drive parts 71 and 72 are engaged with each other(FIG. 1( b)) and a position where the first and second drive parts 71and 72 are not engaged with each other (FIG. 1( a)).

The second drive part 72 and the third drive part 73 are configured asshown in FIGS. 2 to 4. On a chassis 75 where the first motor 71 a isattached, a second motor 72 a, a third motor 73 a, and so on areattached. On a support table 77 attached to the chassis 75 so as toslide along an arrow 76 (see FIGS. 1( a) and 2), a support shaft 78 ismounted.

Further, a lever 79 is pivoted on the support shaft 78. On one end ofthe lever 79 on the side of the turntable 101, a second gear 80 isformed so as to mesh with the first gear 74 of the turntable 101. On theother end of the lever 79, a recessed portion 81 is formed. On therecessed portion 81, an eccentric cam 83 is engaged that is attached toan output shaft 82 of the second motor 72 a. FIG. 4 is a plan viewshowing that the lever 79 has been removed from the support shaft 78.

With this configuration, when the second motor 72 a is energized, thelever 79 swings between a solid line position and a virtual lineposition via the eccentric cam 83.

The lever 79 is urged by a helical spring (not shown) to reduce thebacklash of the lever 79 during the swinging.

The third drive part 73 is made up of the third motor 73 a attached tothe chassis 75, a worm 85 attached to an output shaft 84 of the thirdmotor 73 a, a worm wheel 86 that is rotationally attached to the chassis75 and meshes with the worm 85, and a rack 87 that is formed on thesupport table 77 and meshes with the worm wheel 86. Between the supporttable 77 and the chassis 75, an extension spring 88 is interposed toreduce backlash between the worm wheel 86 and the rack 87.

With this configuration, the third motor 73 a is energized to rotate theworm wheel 86 along an arrow 89 (see FIG. 1( a)) until a detectionswitch 91 detects the support table 77 as shown in FIG. 1( b), so thatthe support table 77 on which the rack 87 meshes with the worm wheel 86slides close to the turntable 101 and the second gear 80 of the lever 79meshes with the first gear 74 of the turntable 101 as shown in FIG. 1(b). In this state, the second motor 72 a kept energized enables thelever 79 to swingingly drive the turntable 101 in the tangentialdirection of the turntable 101. Thus by increasing the number ofrevolutions of the second motor 72 a, acceleration high enough toagitate a small amount of fluid in the analyzing device 1 can beobtained even in a short time.

In FIG. 19, the first motor 71 a is a quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor using a quadrupole magnet rotor 306, a U-phase drivingcoil 307, a V-phase driving coil 308, a W-phase driving coil 309, aU-phase driving coil 310, a V-phase driving coil 311, and a W-phasedriving coil 312. The magnet rotor 306 has two pairs of north-pole andsouth-pole magnets. The driving coils 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, and 312make Y connections and are wound on the respective six protrusions of astator. The six protrusions are spaced at intervals of 60°.

The exciting currents of the three-phase driving coils are switchedbased on the detection of three Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 actingas magnetic sensors. The three Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 arearranged so as to be displaced from the respective three-phase drivingcoils U, V, and W by 30°. The Hall elements detect the polarity (a northpole or a south pole) of the magnetization of the opposed magnet rotor306 and generate an electromotive force at a level corresponding to thedetected polarity.

FIG. 20 shows the angular characteristics of voltages outputted from theHall elements 313, 314, and 315 of the quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor. The horizontal axis represents a rotation angle whenthe magnet rotor has an angle of 0°. The vertical axis represents theoutput voltages of the Hall elements. The voltages from the Hallelements 313, 314, and 315 are outputted to the positive side relativeto a reference voltage Vref when the north pole comes close to the Hallelements, and the voltages are outputted to the negative side when thesouth pole comes close to the elements. Since the magnet rotor 306 hasthe north and south poles arranged at intervals of 90°, the Hall elementvoltages each have a sinusoidal wave with a period of 180°. Further, theHall elements 313, 314, and 315 are phase shifted by 60 mechanicaldegrees.

One of the output voltages of the Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 isinverted every 30° relative to Vref. Thus the output voltage isconverted into a digital signal by a comparator circuit at a high levelon the positive side and a low level on the negative side relative toVref, so that a rotational position can be specified every 30° based onthe output patterns of the Hall elements 313, 314, and 315. The outputpatterns of the Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 are used as theswitching timing of the exciting currents of the three-phase drivingcoils.

FIG. 21 shows the relationship between the six polarity patterns of thethree-phase driving coils of the quadrupole magnet three-phase brushlessmotor and the position of the magnet rotor. The state of (i) is definedas an angle of 0°. The states of the magnet rotor 6 at intervals of 30°are shown in (i)→(ii)→(iii)→(iv)→(v)→(vi) and correspond to the rotationangles of FIG. 20. Of the three-driving coils of U phase, V phase, and Wphase in Y connections, the V phase has a positive potential and the Uphase has a negative potential in (i), so that exciting current passesfrom the V phase to the U phase, a north pole appears in the V phase,and a south pole appears in the U phase. Thus an attractive force and arepulsive force are generated on the magnet rotor 306 and the magnetrotor 306 is rotated clockwise by 30°. After the rotation of 30°, thepolarity of the Hall element 315 is reversed in (ii). At this point, theW phase is set at a positive potential and the U phase is set at anegative potential, so that a north pole appears in the W phase, a southpole appears in the U phase, and the magnet rotor 306 is further rotatedclockwise by 30°. After that, the magnet rotor 306 is rotated bychanging the exciting coils as shown in (iii)→(iv)→(v)→(vi).

FIG. 22 shows the states of energization to the Hall elements 313, 314,and 315 and the driving coils of U phase, V phase, and W phase. FIG. 23shows a vibration detecting section 401 of the centrifugal separator.

In the centrifugal separator, a vibration frequency during agitation isdetected based on the output signals of the Hall elements. In otherwords, even when the three-phase driving coils of the first motor 71 aare not excited, vibrations transmitted to the turntable 101 by thesecond drive part 72 also vibrate the first motor 71 a, so that thevoltages of the three Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 fluctuate with thevibrations. The fluctuations are detected to specify a vibrationfrequency.

FIG. 23 shows an example in which the output voltages of the Hallelements 313 and 315 are extracted out of the three Hall elements. Theoutput voltage of the Hall element 314 may be extracted.

The detection output of the Hall element 313 is connected to thenon-inverting input (+) of a comparator 320 via a filter 316, whichremoves a direct-current signal from the output signal of the Hallelement 313, and a peak hold circuit 318. The detection output of theHall element 315 is connected to the inverting input (−) of thecomparator 320 via a filter 317, which removes a direct-current signalfrom the output signal of the Hall element 315, and a peak hold circuit319.

The filters 316 and 317 remove the direct-current signals from the inputsignals, extract the frequency, components (alternating-current signals)of vibration frequencies, and output the frequency components. To bespecific, the filters 316 and 317 are each made up of a bypass filterincluding a capacitor and a resistor. The capacitors of the filters 316and 317 are placed in series with the respective output signals of theHall elements 313 and 315 and the resistors are placed in parallel withthe respective output signals.

The peak hold circuits 318 and 319 each hold the peak value of aninputted voltage and then output the voltage. To be specific, the peakhold circuits 318 and 319 each operate only in response to the input ofa voltage larger than a previously inputted voltage, and hold thecurrent input voltage for a certain period of time.

The comparator circuit 320 compares the output signals of the peak holdcircuits 318 and 319. When the output signal of the peak hold circuit318 is larger than that of the peak hold circuit 319, the comparatorcircuit 320 outputs a high-level control signal 320 a. When the outputsignal of the peak hold circuit 318 is smaller than that of the peakhold circuit 319, the comparator circuit 320 outputs a low-level controlsignal 320 a. In other words, the peak hold circuits 318 and 319 and thecomparator circuit 320 constitute a first comparing section 410 forcomparing the amplitudes of the output signals of the filters 316 and317 and deciding which of the amplitude is larger.

The outputs of the filters 316 and 317 are connected to thenon-inverting input (+) of a comparator circuit 323, which acts as asecond comparing section, via an analog multiplexer 321 whose outputstates are switched in response to the control signal 320 a outputtedfrom the comparator circuit 320, and an alternating current amplifiercircuit 322. The inverting input (−) of the comparator circuit 323 isfed with a threshold voltage V324 from a voltage source 324.

The analog multiplexer 321 selects one having a larger vibrationamplitude out of the output signals of the two Hall elements 313 and315, which are AC-coupled by the filters 316 and 317, based on thecontrol signal 320 a, and then the analog multiplexer 321 outputs theselected signal. The output signal of the analog multiplexer 321 isamplified in the alternating current amplifier circuit 322 to anamplitude enabling binarization, and is digitally converted in thecomparator circuit 323 by the threshold voltage V324.

When the reference voltage is set at Vref after the direct-currentsignals are removed in the filters 316 and 317, the alternating-currentsignal is outputted with Vref serving as the amplitude center. Thus bysetting the threshold voltage V324 at the same voltage as Vref, digitalconversion can be performed at the amplitude center.

The output of the comparator circuit 323 is inputted to a microcomputer325, and the vibration frequency of the turntable 101 is calculated bymeasuring a pulse period in the microcomputer 325.

Referring to FIGS. 24 to 27, the vibration detecting section 401 will bespecifically described below.

FIG. 24 shows the time variations of the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements when the quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor serving as the first drive part 71 is vibrated in therange of an angle α. FIG. 25 shows the time variations of the peak holdvoltages in this case.

In the following explanation, it is assumed that the input/outputcharacteristics of the comparator 320 exhibit no hysteresis.

In reciprocating vibrations at a frequency of 20 Hz in the range of theangle α, that is, from 210 mechanical degrees to 240 mechanical degrees,the vibrations cause fluctuations as shown in FIG. 24. At this angle,the signal from the Hall element 315 has a vibration frequency of 20 Hzthat is a correct vibration frequency. However, the signal from the Hallelement 313 vibrates around the peak of the sinusoidal wave, so that thevibration amplitude decreases and the vibration frequency is doubled.For this reason, a correct vibration frequency cannot be obtained.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 25, the Hall element 313 has a largerpeak hold voltage than the Hall element 315. Thus the output of the Hallelement 315 having a larger vibration amplitude can be selected in theanalog multiplexer 321, so that the correct signal can be extractedbased on the vibration frequency.

FIG. 26 shows the time variations of the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements when the quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor serving as the first drive part 71 is vibrated in therange of an angle β. FIG. 27 shows the time variations of the peak holdvoltages in this case.

In this case, the states are reversed from those of FIGS. 24 and 25. Invibrations in the range of the angle β, a correct vibration frequencycan be obtained from the Hall element 313 but a vibration frequency fromthe Hall element 315 is doubled. However, the signal from the Hallelement 315 can be selected by comparing the peak hold voltages. Thusalso in this case, the correct signal can be extracted based on thevibration frequency.

As previously mentioned, the brushless motor of Hall element type isused as the first drive part 71, the two Hall element signals 313 and315 are extracted from the multiple Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 tocompare the vibration amplitudes, and the signal having a largervibration amplitude is extracted. This configuration can act as acentrifugal separator for centrifugal separation and a sensor forcontrolling agitation, thereby eliminating the need for providing asensor for controlling agitation in addition to the first drive part 71.

The explanation described an example of the reciprocating vibrations ofthe turntable 101 from 210 mechanical degrees to 240 mechanical degreesand an example of the reciprocating vibrations of the turntable 101 from240 mechanical degrees to 270 mechanical degrees. As shown in FIG. 20,the output signal of the Hall element 313 and the output signal of theHall element 315 intersect at points P1, P2, P3, and P4. Thus theoperations become unstable and a correct vibration frequency cannot becalculated in the reciprocating vibrations of the turntable 101 from 0mechanical degrees to 30 mechanical degrees, in the reciprocatingvibrations of the turntable 101 from 90 mechanical degrees to 120mechanical degrees, in the reciprocating vibrations of the turntable 101from 180 mechanical degrees to 210 mechanical degrees, and in thereciprocating vibrations of the turntable 101 from 270 mechanicaldegrees to 300 mechanical degrees.

Thus the comparator 320 of FIG. 23 has input/output characteristicsexhibiting hysteresis.

FIG. 28 is a characteristic diagram showing the output voltages of theAC-coupled Hall elements 313 and 315 in the reciprocating vibrations ofthe turntable 101 with the vibration center disposed at the angle of oneof the points P1 to P4 shown in FIG. 20. FIG. 29 is a characteristicdiagram showing the peak hold voltages.

As shown in FIG. 28, in vibrations around P1 to P4 of FIG. 20, theoutput signals of the Hall elements 313 and 315 are in opposite phaseand have the vibration amplitudes at the same level.

As shown in FIG. 29, the Hall element 313 has a larger peak hold voltageimmediately after the start of vibrations but the peak hold voltage ofthe Hall element 315 increases with the passage of time. Finally, thepeak hold voltages of the Hall elements 313 and 315 are kept at the samelevel.

FIG. 30 is an input/output characteristic diagram of the comparatorcircuit 320. The horizontal axis represents a value obtained bysubtracting the output of the peak hold 19 from the output of the peakhold circuit 318, and the vertical axis represents the output signal.

When the peak hold voltages are kept at the same level as shown in FIG.29, the input signal of the comparator circuit 320 becomes zero and theoutput signal produces chattering. Since the output signals of the Hallelements 313 and 315 are in opposite phase, chattering that switches theselection signal of the analog multiplexer 321 causes phase inversion,so that a vibration frequency is erroneously detected.

The problem of erroneous detection can be solved by providing ahysteresis characteristic for the comparator circuit 320. FIG. 31 is aninput/output characteristic diagram when the hysteresis characteristicis provided for the comparator circuit 320. The horizontal axisrepresents an input signal obtained by subtracting the peak hold circuit319 from the peak hold circuit 318, and the vertical axis represents theoutput signal.

A comparison between FIGS. 30 and 31 proves that when the comparatorcircuit 320 does not have a hysteresis characteristic, a high level anda low level are switched as shown in FIG. 30 at “0” level serving as athreshold value, whereas the comparator circuit 320 is provided with ahysteresis characteristic so as to have a first threshold value Th1where the output signal is at high level and a second threshold valueTh2 where the output signal is at low level. In this case, a dead zone(Th1-Th2) of FIG. 31 is formed where the output is not changed byfluctuations of the input signal and an output fixed at one of highlevel and low level is hardly inverted.

To be specific, in FIG. 29, the peak hold voltage of the Hall element313 is larger than that of the Hall element 315 immediately after thestart of vibrations, the input of the comparator circuit 320 reaches atleast the first threshold value Th1, and the input of the comparatorcircuit 320 is fixed at high level. After that, the peak hold voltagesof the Hall elements 313 and 315 are at the same level and thus theinput of the comparator circuit 320 becomes “0”. However, the input ofthe comparator circuit 320 does not decrease to the second thresholdvalue Th2 or less and thus is not switched to low level.

Thus the selection of the analog multiplexer 321 in response to thecontrol signal 320 a of the comparator circuit 320 is kept at one of theHall elements 313 and 315 and the comparator circuit 320 is not switchedduring vibrations, so that the vibration frequency can be accuratelydetected.

The dead zone (Th1-Th2) where the control signal 320 a is not switchedis determined by the noise amplitudes of the output signals of the twopeak hold circuits 318 and 319. FIG. 32 is an enlarged view of thevertical axis (voltage range) of FIG. 29. When the dead zone (Th1-Th2)is smaller than the noise amplitudes of output signals 318 a and 319 aof the two peak hold circuits 318 and 319, the comparator is switched inresponse to noise. Thus it is desirable to provide the dead zone(Th1-Th2) at least twice the noise amplitudes.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 33 shows a vibration detecting section 401 of a centrifugalseparator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 23 showing the fourth embodiment, the comparator circuit 320 isprovided with the hysteresis characteristic, so that a correct vibrationfrequency can be calculated regardless of the position of the turntable101 vibrated in a reciprocating manner. In the vibration detectingsection 401 of FIG. 33, instead of a hysteresis characteristic for acomparator circuit 320, a D flip-flop 330 is provided as a latch. Otherconfigurations are the same as those of the fourth embodiment.

The D flip-flop 330 has an input terminal D fed with a control signal 32a, and the switching state of an analog multiplexer 321 is controlled bya signal from an output terminal Q of the D flip-flop 330.

The D flip-flop 330 outputs the signal level of the input terminal D tothe output terminal Q at a rising edge of a digital signal inputted froma microcomputer 325 to a clock terminal CLK. The output of the outputterminal Q is kept until another rising edge is inputted to the clockterminal CLK.

After the start of vibrations, a pulse is transmitted from themicrocomputer 325 to the clock terminal CLK of the D flip-flop 330 andthe control signal at that time is held in the analog multiplexer 321.Thus even when the control signal 320 a is switched, the selection stateof the analog multiplexer 321 is not switched, thereby achieving thesame effect as the hysteresis characteristic.

Sixth Embodiment

FIGS. 34 and 35 show a vibration detecting section 401 of a centrifugalseparator according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 23 showing the fourth embodiment, a vibration frequency iscalculated using the outputs of the two Hall elements 313 and 315 asinput signals. FIG. 34 is different from the fourth embodiment in that avibration frequency is calculated using the outputs of three Hallelements 313, 314, and 315 as input signals. To be specific, FIG. 34 isdifferent from the fourth embodiment in that a three-to-one analogmultiplexer 327 is provided to extract the outputs of the three Hallelements and an analog-to-digital converter 328 is provided to replacesignal processing performed by a peak detection circuit and a comparatorwith numerical calculation performed by a microcomputer 325.

In FIG. 34, reference numeral 327 denotes the three-to-one analogmultiplexer that has three circuits a, b, and c on the input and onecircuit on the output. The input of the three-to-one analog multiplexer327 receives the outputs of the Hall elements 313, 314, and 315 throughfilters 316, 326, and 317. The analog multiplexer 327 is controlled by asignal from the microcomputer 325. For example, when receiving a 2-bitsignal of “00” from the microcomputer 325, the analog multiplexer 327selects “input a”. When receiving “01”, the analog multiplexer 327selects “input b”. When receiving “10”, the analog multiplexer 327selects “input c”. The output of the analog multiplexer 327 is convertedto a multilevel signal in the analog-to-digital converter 328 and istransferred to the microcomputer 325. External memory 329 is made up ofvolatile memory such as SRAM and nonvolatile memory such as EEPROM andbidirectionally communicates stored data with the microcomputer 325.

FIG. 35 is a process drawing showing the detection of the vibrationfrequency of the microcomputer 325.

In the following explanation, “set” is a state in which a second drivepart 72 is engaged with a turntable 101 and “start” is timing whenvibration and agitation are started after the setting.

First, in step S11, the output of the analog multiplexer 327 is switchedto the selection state of “input a”.

In step S12, a fixed number of output signals from the Hall element 313are sampled from the output of the analog-to-digital converter 328.

In step S13, a peak value is detected from the output signals from theHall element 313 after the output signals are sampled in step S12.

In step S14, the peak value detected in step S13 is stored in theexternal memory 329.

Next, in step S15, the output of the analog multiplexer 327 is switchedto the selection state of “input b”. In steps S16 to S18, output signalsfrom the Hall element 314 are processed as in steps S12 to S14.

After that, in step S19, the output of the analog multiplexer 327 isswitched to the selection state of “input c”. In steps S20 to S22,output signals from the Hall element 315 are processed as in steps S12to S14.

Next, in step S23, the peak values of the Hall element 313, 314, and 315in the external memory 29 are read and compared with one another in stepS24.

In step S25, the switching state of the analog multiplexer 327 is fixedbased on the comparison result of the peak values in step 24 until anoperation of vibration and agitation is completed.

The comparison result of the peak values in step 24 has three patternsof case 1 to case 3 as follows:

Case 1: Hall element 313=Hall element 314>Hall element 315

Case 2: Hall element 314=Hall element 315>Hall element 313

Case 3: Hall element 315=Hall element 313>Hall element 314

To be specific, in Case 1, the switching state of the multiplexer 327 isfixed at a switching state for the selection and output of the Hallelement 313. In Case 2, the switching state of the multiplexer 327 isfixed at a switching state for the selection and output of the Hallelement 314. In Case 3, the switching state of the multiplexer 327 isfixed at a switching state for the selection and output of the Hallelement 315.

In step S26, a threshold value is read from the external memory 329.

In step S27, the output signals of the Hall elements are binarized byprocessing the output of the analog multiplexer 327 at the thresholdvalue read in step S26.

In step S28, the pulse period of the signal binarized in step S27 ismeasured and a vibration frequency is calculated.

In this way, vibration amplitudes from the three Hall elements arecompared with one another and the Hall element having the largestvibration amplitude is extracted in the sixth embodiment. Thisconfiguration can achieve higher detection accuracy of a vibrationfrequency than in the fourth embodiment in which the two Hall elementsare compared with each other. Further, the replacement with thenumerical calculation in the microcomputer 325 can simplify theconfiguration.

In the case where the turntable 101 is vibrated again with the samemechanical degrees, the switching state of the analog multiplexer 327 instep S25 is stored beforehand. The stored switching state is readthereafter to have the same switching state in the analog multiplexer327. Thus only by repeating a routine of steps S26 to S28, the vibrationfrequency of the turntable 101 can be calculated.

In the foregoing embodiments, the quadrupole magnet three-phasebrushless motor is used. Any kind of brushless motor is applicable aslong as multiple Hall elements are used to detect a rotational position.

In the foregoing embodiments, the microcomputer 325 is provided with aroutine for confirming whether a vibration frequency calculated by themicrocomputer 325 is a specified value or not. The microcomputer 325detects a state in which the vibration frequency does not reach thespecified value, and notifies a user of the occurrence of the state,thereby preventing a reduction in the analysis accuracy of a bloodcomponent.

Seventh Embodiment

As described in the first and third embodiments, when the second gear 80is meshed with the first gear 74 to reciprocate the turntable 101, thelong-term operation of the analyzing apparatus wears the second gear 80and deforms the original shapes of the teeth from virtual lines to solidlines as shown in FIG. 36.

The worn second gear 80 may change a frequency for swinging performed toagitate a small amount of fluid in the analyzing device set on theturntable 101, so that the analysis accuracy may not be maintained. In aseventh embodiment for solving the problem, an analyzing apparatus isprovided that includes a rotational drive section capable of stablyswinging even in the case of deformation such as the wearing of acomponent when the rotational drive section reciprocates a turntable inengagement with the turntable on which the analyzing device is set.

First, mechanical configurations such as an analyzing device 1 used foranalysis and a rotational drive section 106 including a turntable 101are identical to the configurations of the first embodiment.

In the analyzing process of an analyzing apparatus 100, the turntable101 is rotated at high speed by a first motor 71 a and a sample liquidis transferred to a measuring chamber 40 of the analyzing device 1. Atsome point of this period, in order to temporarily stop the driving ofthe first motor 71 a and swing the analyzing device 1, a second gear 80is brought close to the turntable 101 by operating the third motor 73 aand a second motor 72 a is operated.

In this example, the second motor 72 a is a direct-current motor and therotation speed varies with an applied voltage.

After that, when the sample solution obtained by diluting a specificcomponent of the sample liquid with a diluent reaches the measuringchamber 40, the driving of the first motor 71 a is temporarily stoppedand the second motor 72 a is operated to swing the analyzing device 1,so that the sample solution and a reagent set in the measuring chamber40 are agitated and a reaction occurs.

And then, the first motor 71 a rotates the turntable 101 at high speedagain; meanwhile, detection light having passed through the solution ofthe measuring chamber 40 from a light source 112 is read by aphotodetector 113, so that the component is read.

As a result of repeated swinging, 81, 83 and members constituting aswinging mechanism around 81 and 83 become more slidable owing to thelubrication of applied grease immediately after the start of use of theanalyzing apparatus 100, and the load of the second motor 72 a rapidlydecreases as indicated by a region a (load rapidly decreasing region) ofFIG. 38. Thus even when a voltage applied to the second motor 72 a iskept constant, the swinging frequency of the analyzing device 1fluctuates and the contents of agitation become unstable.

After the end of the region a, the second gear 80 wears, the engagementwith a first gear 74 gradually decreases, and the load of the secondmotor 72 a gradually declines as indicated by a region b (load slightlydecreasing region). Thus as shown in FIG. 39, a swinging frequency in aperiod of the region b is increased by Δf (in FIG. 39, the swingingfrequency is increased by +4 Hz from α to β) as compared with acharacteristic at the end point of the region a, so that the contents ofagitation are not stabilized even in the region b.

In order to solve this problem, in the present invention, the swingingfrequency of the first motor 71 a during swinging is detected by aswinging frequency detector 521 as shown in FIG. 37, and a microcomputer523 acting as a controller controls the second motor 72 a so as toreduce Δf through a swinging motor drive section 524 based on themeasured swinging frequency that has been read by the swinging frequencydetector 521 and a table written in nonvolatile memory 522. In thepresent embodiment, the first motor 71 a is made up of a brushless motorand contains a hole sensor for detecting the mechanical degrees of arotor. Reciprocal motions made by agitation fluctuate the voltage of thedetected output of the hole sensor. Thus the swinging frequency detector521 detects the swinging frequency based on the voltage fluctuations ofthe detected output of the hole sensor. Further, the microcomputer 523controls the timing of energization to the third motor 73 a and thedirection of rotation via an attaching/detaching motor drive section 525during a swinging operation.

Immediately after the manufacturing of the analyzing apparatus 100, themicrocomputer 523 is set at learn mode. In this learn mode, the measuredvalue of the swinging frequency detector 521 is read while a set valueoutputted to the swinging motor drive section 524 is changed, and themicrocomputer 523 writes the characteristic of the region a of FIG. 39as a table in the nonvolatile memory 522.

Ideally in this learn mode, the swinging frequency is learned bymeasurement in a state in which the analyzing device 1 is set on theturntable 101. In the present embodiment, however, the swingingfrequency is learned in a state in which the analyzing device 1 is notset on the turntable 101.

At the completion of learning, the microcomputer 523 is switched toanalyzing operation mode.

The microcomputer 523 set at analyzing operation mode runs a swingingroutine 400 of FIG. 40 in synchronization with the swinging of theanalyzing process.

In step S1, the microcomputer 523 reads the table of a setvalue-swinging frequency relational expression written in thenonvolatile memory 522.

In step S2, the microcomputer 523 determines a set value necessary forobtaining a desired swinging frequency in the analyzing process, withreference to the table read in step S1. Further, the microcomputer 523sets the set value for the swinging motor drive section 524.

In step S3, the third motor 73 a is energized through theattaching/detaching motor drive section 525 to bring the second gear 80close to the turntable 101, and the swinging driving motor drive section524 is controlled to apply a direct-current voltage to the second motor72 a, the direct-current voltage having a voltage value corresponding tothe set value. In step S4, the analyzing device 1 is swung.

In step S5, the microcomputer 523 having detected the passage of aspecified swinging time completes the application of the direct-currentvoltage from the swinging driving motor drive section 524 to the secondmotor 72 a, and energizes the third motor 73 a through theattaching/detaching motor drive section 525 to separate the second gear80 from the turntable 101, so that the current swinging operation iscompleted.

In step S6, a proper additional value is added to a register R based onthe swinging frequency of the swinging operation at that time withreference to a part or the whole of an additional value 126 shown inFIG. 41. The table 126 is determined beforehand by a frictionexperiment. To be specific, in the case where the register R has anaccumulated value of N1 as a result of the previous swinging operationand the accumulated value is processed with reference to the top threelines of the additional value table 126, the accumulated value(accumulated swinging value) of the register R is increased by one andis updated to (N1+1) in step S6 at a swinging frequency of 10 Hz to 20Hz determined at that time by the set value of step S2.

In the case of processing referring to the whole of the additional valuetable 126, the microcomputer 523 counts an elapsed time since theshipment of the analyzing apparatus from a factory or calculates anelapsed time from a difference between date data at different times anddate data upon shipment from a factory. The microcomputer 523 updatesthe register R with reference to the top three lines of the additionalvalue table 126 and adds an additional value according to the elapsedtime. The additional value has a weight increasing with the elapsedtime. To be specific, the accumulated value is increased by two betweenthe third year and the fourth year of the elapsed time. Thus in thiscase, the accumulated swinging value is updated to (N1+1+2).

At the completion of step S6 of the swinging routine 400, an accumulatedswinging value deciding routine 600 of FIG. 42 is run at a proper time,for example, immediately after the end of the analyzing process.

In step S7, the microcomputer 523 reads the accumulated swinging valuefrom the register R. In step S8, the microcomputer 523 checks whetherthe accumulated swinging value read in step S7 has exceeded apredetermined threshold value or not.

When it is decided in step S8 that the accumulated swinging value hasnot exceeded the threshold value, the accumulated swinging valuedeciding routine 600 is ended to return to the analyzing process.

When it is decided in step S8 that the accumulated swinging value hasexceeded the threshold value, a load fluctuation learning routine 700 ofstep S9 is run. In the present embodiment, the load fluctuation learningroutine 700 is run in a state in which the analyzing device 1 is not seton the turntable 101.

FIG. 43 shows the load fluctuation learning routine 700 of themicrocomputer 523.

In step S11 of the load fluctuation learning routine 700, the table ofthe latest set value-swinging frequency relational expression written instep S1 is read from the nonvolatile memory 522.

In step S12, a predetermined set value for learning is read. In thiscase, the set value is 60.

In step S13, the third motor 73 a is energized through theattaching/detaching motor drive section 525 to bring the second gear 80close to the turntable 101, and the set value of 60, which has been readin step S12, is set for the swinging motor drive section 524. Thusswinging is performed in step S14. During the swinging, in step S15, theswinging frequency of the measured value outputted from the swingingfrequency detector 521 is read. When the read value is β of FIG. 44, theshift amount of the swinging frequency is calculated in step S16 asfollows:β−α=ΔfIn step S17, the table of the nonvolatile memory 522 is updated suchthat Δf comes close to zero. To be specific, in FIG. 44, the point ofthe swinging frequency 3 measured at the set value of 60 is rewritteninto a chain line table (after updating) on which the set value isvertically moved by ΔV so as to allow the passage of the current table(before updating) of the nonvolatile memory 522. At this moment, the setvalue for learning in the subsequent step S12 is updated to 50 that isnecessary for obtaining the swinging frequency in the updated table.

At the completion of step S17, the microcomputer 523 returns to theanalyzing process after resetting the accumulated swinging value of theregister R to zero in step S10 of FIG. 42, the accumulated swingingvalue having been written in step S6.

In this way, until the accumulated swinging value exceeds the thresholdvalue in step S8 of FIG. 42, a set value necessary for a swingingoperation at a specified swinging frequency is determined based on thelatest table of the latest set value-swinging frequency relationalexpression read from the nonvolatile memory 522 every time swinging isdesignated in the analyzing process, and the swinging operation isperformed in step S4. After that, the accumulated swinging value isupdated in step S6. Thus the table of the nonvolatile memory 522 updatedby running the load fluctuation learning routine 700 of FIG. 43 at aproper time according to the contents of the swinging operation, so thateven when the load of the second motor 72 a fluctuates in the region aand the region b, it is possible to stabilize the swinging frequencyduring swinging, thereby eliminating variations in analysis.

The following will more specifically describe the stabilization of theswinging frequency during swinging.

In the case where the load fluctuation learning routine 700 of FIG. 43is not run and the analyzing apparatus is operated over an extendedperiod by using a set value upon shipment from a factory as a set valuefor instructing the swinging motor drive section 524, the instruction tothe swinging motor drive section 524 is continued using the set valueupon shipment from the factory as a set value regardless of theoccurrence of deformation such as the wearing of a component. Thus evenwhen the swinging operation is started at the set value and the swingingfrequency is stabilized, the swinging frequency at this point isincreased from a required swinging frequency by Δf because of thedeformation such as the wearing of the component. Further, the swingingfrequency is caused to reach the target swinging frequency duringfeedback control, so that a response time from the start of swinging tothe arrival at the swinging frequency is increased and the contents ofagitation are not stabilized in the response time.

Contrarily, in the present embodiment where the accumulated swingingvalue deciding routine 600 of FIG. 42 is run and the load fluctuationlearning routine 700 of FIG. 43 is automatically run, a value learned todecrease Δf without reference to the table written in the nonvolatilememory 522 is used as a set value to instruct the swinging motor drivesection 524. Thus Δf can be reduced as compared with the case where theset value upon shipment from a factory is used as a set value, and it ispossible to shorten a response time when the swinging frequency iscaused to reach the target swinging frequency during feedback control,thereby stabilizing the contents of agitation in the response time.

In the present embodiment, swinging is performed in step S4 withreference to the table of the set value-swinging frequency relationalexpression learned in a state in which the analyzing device 1 is not seton the turntable 101. When the swinging frequency is measured while theset value is changed with the analyzing device 1 set on the turntable101, a characteristic P2 in FIG. 45 and a characteristic P1 plotted whenthe analyzing device 1 is not set on the turntable 101 are substantiallyaligned with each other in a low-frequency swinging range of less than25 Hz. In a high-frequency swinging range exceeding 25 Hz, however, aswinging frequency when the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable101 tends to be lower even at the same set value than in the case wherethe analyzing device 1 is not set on the turntable 101.

For this reason, when swinging is performed in the high-frequencyswinging range, the characteristic P1 written in the nonvolatile memory522 is multiplied by a specified coefficient for each swinging frequencyto calculate the characteristic P2, the contents of the nonvolatilememory 522 are rewritten to the calculation result, and then step S4 isperformed. Thus it is possible to swing the analyzing device 1 at acorrect swinging frequency over a wide range from the low-frequencyswinging range to the high-frequency swinging range.

Alternatively, without converting the characteristic P1 to thecharacteristic P2, the set value may be changed, the swinging frequencymay be learned, the characteristic P2 may be written into thenonvolatile memory 522, and then step S4 may be performed in a state inwhich the analyzing device 1 is set on the turntable 101.

In the foregoing embodiments, the second drive part 72 is driven inengagement with the first gear 74 provided on the turntable 101. Thefirst gear 74 may be formed on the outer periphery of the outer rotor 90of the first motor 71 a and the second gear 80 of the second drive part72 may mesh with the first gear 74.

In the examples of the foregoing embodiments, the second gear 80 of therotational drive section 106 gradually wears and the swinging frequencyfluctuates. In the second embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12, the rotationaldrive section 106 is configured such that the friction member 202provided on one end of the lever 79 is brought into contact with theouter periphery of the turntable 101 to engage the turntable 101 withthe lever 79. Also in this case, the friction member 202 may wear withthe progress of an operation and cause an unstable swinging frequency,and Δf can be similarly controlled to decrease.

Eighth Embodiment

In the load fluctuation learning routine 700 according to the foregoingembodiments, the current solid-line table of the nonvolatile memory 522in FIG. 44 is rewritten in steps S16 and S17 into the chain line tableon which the set value is vertically moved by ΔV. By updating thecontents of the nonvolatile memory 522 to results learned at multiplepoints as shown in FIGS. 46 to 48, more precise control can be achieved.

In the present embodiment, the current table of nonvolatile memory 522has a characteristic P1 shown in FIG. 47. (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3),(x4, y4), and (x5, y5) are the multiple points of the characteristic P1.

In step S12-a of FIG. 46, the set values corresponding to the swingingfrequencies at the multiple points (y1 to yn) are determined based onthe table of the latest set value-swinging frequency relationalexpression. The table has been read from the nonvolatile memory 522 instep S11. In this case, the multiple points are five points of y1 to y5and the set values of, for example, y1=40, y2=60, y3=80, y4=100, andy5=120 are set as shown in FIG. 47.

In step S13-a, a third motor 73 a is energized through anattaching/detaching motor drive section 525 to bring a second gear 80close to a turntable 101 and a swinging motor drive section 524 isinstructed to operate.

In step S13 b, the contents of a specific register in a microcomputer523 are set at yn=y1. The register stores a measurement endpoint fromthe start of learning.

In step S14, a set value of 40 is set for the swinging motor drivesection 524 based on y1 of the contents of the specific register andswinging is performed.

In step S15, a swinging frequency xn=x11 measured by the swingingfrequency detector 521 at this moment is read.

In step S16-a, x11 read in step S15 is stored in RAM of themicrocomputer 523 so as to correspond to the set value y1.

In step S16-b, it is decided whether or not the number of measuredpoints is five, which is a specified value, after the completion oflearning. In the case of yn≠y5, the contents of the specific registerare updated to yn+1 in step S16-c and the process returns to step S14.Thus in the subsequent step S14, a set value of 60 is set for theswinging motor drive section 524 and swinging is performed. In step S15,a swinging frequency xn=x21 measured by the swinging frequency detector521 is read. In step S16-a, x21 read in step S15 is stored in the RAM ofthe microcomputer 523 so as to correspond to the set value y2.

Until yn=y5 is detected in step S16-b, a routine of step S16-c to stepS16-a is repeated to learn (x11, y1), (x21, y2), (x31, y3), (x41, y4),and (x51, y5).

In step S16-d, a line 1 between (x11, y1) and (x21, y2) undergoes linearapproximation, a line 2 between (x21, y2) and (x31, y3) undergoes linearapproximation, a line 3 between (x31, y3) and (x41, y4) undergoes linearapproximation, and a line 4 between (x41, y4) and (x51, y5) undergoeslinear approximation. The contents of the nonvolatile memory 522 areupdated to a table containing the line 1, the line 2, the line 3, theline 4, a line located under (x11, y1) and designated as the line 1, anda line located above (x51, y5) and designated as the line 4. FIG. 48shows a specific example of the calculation of the lines 1 to 4.

In the foregoing embodiments, the nonvolatile memory 522 is updated in astate in which the analyzing device 1 is not set upon shipment from afactory and the subsequent learning. Thus the nonvolatile memory 522 canbe updated to an optimum value in a standby time until power is suppliedto the analyzing apparatus and the analyzing device 1 is set. Aspreviously mentioned, the nonvolatile memory 522 can be updated in astate in which the analyzing device 1 is set upon shipment from afactory and the subsequent learning.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, the mixing and agitation of ananalyzing device used for analyzing a component of a liquid collectedfrom an organism and the like can be performed in a short time. Further,it is possible to keep analysis accuracy and improve analysisefficiency.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A driving apparatus for an analyzingapparatus in which an analyzing device is set, the analyzing devicehaving a microchannel structure for transferring a sample liquid to ameasuring chamber located in the microchannel structure by a centrifugalforce generated by rotationally driving the analyzing device, thedriving apparatus comprising: a turntable for holding the analyzingdevice in which the sample liquid has been injected; a first drive partincluding magnetic material, the first drive part configured torotationally drive the turntable, the first drive part also including atleast two stationary magnetic sensors to detect a rotating magneticfield generated by the magnetic material; a second drive partselectively engaged with the turntable to generate reciprocatingvibrations on the turntable; and a vibration detecting sectionconfigured to select an output signal having a largest amplitude fromoutput signals of the magnetic sensors and calculate a vibrationfrequency from the selected output signal.
 2. The driving apparatus forthe analyzing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first drivepart has a rotary motor that is a three-phase brushless motor.
 3. Thedriving apparatus for the analyzing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the vibration detecting section comprises: filters configured toextract two of the output signals of the magnetic sensors and removedirect-current signals; a first comparing section configured to compareamplitudes of the output signals of the filters to decide which of theamplitudes is larger, and store a decision result; a multiplexerconfigured to select the signal having the largest amplitude from theoutput signals of the filters based on the decision result stored in thefirst comparing section; a second comparing section configured todigitally convert the output signal selected by the multiplexer; and amicrocomputer configured to calculate a vibration frequency from anoutput signal of the second comparing section.
 4. The driving apparatusfor the analyzing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibrationdetecting section comprises: filters configured to remove direct-currentsignals from the output signals of the at least two magnetic sensors; amultiplexer configured to select one of output signals of the filters;an analog-to-digital converter configured to digitally convert an outputsignal of the multiplexer; and a microcomputer configured to calculate avibration frequency from an output signal of the analog-to-digitalconverter.
 5. A driving apparatus for an analyzing apparatus in which ananalyzing device is set, the analyzing device having a microchannelstructure for transferring a sample liquid to a measuring chamberlocated in the microchannel structure by a centrifugal force generatedby rotationally driving the analyzing device, the driving apparatuscomprising: a turntable for holding the analyzing device in which thesample liquid has been injected; a first drive part including magneticmaterial, the first drive part configured to rotationally drive theturntable, the first drive part also including at least two stationarymagnetic sensors to detect a rotating magnetic field generated by themagnetic material; a second drive part selectively engaged with theturntable to generate reciprocating vibrations on the turntable; avibration detecting section including filters configured to extract theoutput signals of the magnetic sensors and remove direct-currentsignals; a comparing section configured to compare the output signals ofthe filters; and a microcomputer configured to calculate a vibrationfrequency from an output signal of the comparing section.